This project documents personal stories of displaced people who lost significant parts of their lives due to the ongoing war between the M23 rebels and the Congolese army in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the photographer is from and has been documenting this since 2021. The aim of this project is to shed light on the human consequences caused by this security crisis and to raise awareness on this underreported conflict.
Beyond numbers and statistical data published in different reports, there are mothers, fathers, and children who have endured several years of uncertainty, trauma, despair, violence and insecurity. This project goes beyond sharing the stories of displaced people in the Eastern Congo – it gives names and faces on the statistics of this ongoing war.
Ndayambaje Sinamenye (left), says goodbye to his friend Nsibomana (right), who is leaving the hospital just after his surgery, at the CEBECA Ndosho hospital, in Goma city, North Kivu, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on 28 June 2024. Ndayambaje lost his two children in one of the bombings in May at the 8th CEPAC Mugunga camp, where he was living with his family after fleeing his village following the war. More than six million Congolese have been forced to leave their villages since the resumption of fighting between the Congolese army and the M23 rebels.
ICRC surgeons treating grafts from patient Ndayambaje Sinamenye in the operating room of CEBCA Ndosho hospital where he is undergoing treatment after surviving the bombing in which he lost two of his children at the 8th CEPAC Mugunga IDP camp where he was living with his family in the city of Goma, North Kivu, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on 28 June 2024.
Hope Mabuya, aged 18, attends her kinesitherapy session at the Shirika center, where she is undergoing physical reeducation following her amputation in Goma, North Kivu, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on 11 September 2024. Hope lost her leg in one of the IDP bombings in May at the 8th CEPAC Mugunga camp where she was living with her family after fleeing her village following the war.
The Wazalendo self-defense forces secure the hills of Nyiragongo territory, North Kivu, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on 9 December 2023.
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What does it mean to lose your leg as Hope did? Or lose your two first daughters after surviving a bomb explosion, as Ndayambaje did? Arlette Bashizi is a documentary photographer and photojournalist from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Her masterclass project, Beyond Numbers, documents the long-term impact on civilians of the ongoing war in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
For the 28th edition of the Joop Swart Masterclass, we brought together 12 emerging photographers from around the world to develop a project, and develop the tools to make a viable career in photography.
Launched in 1994, the Joop Swart Masterclass is World Press Photo’s best-known educational program for emerging photographers, encouraging new and diverse approaches to photojournalism, documentary photography and visual storytelling. After a three-year hiatus, the Joop Swart Masterclass returns this year, with a focus on the MENA region, thanks to funding from the Porticus Foundation.
See more work by 2024 Joop Swart Masterclass participants here
